Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbia #3) - Ivy Smoak Page 0,16
"It's not for you at all, actually. It's for...dirt."
He didn't respond of course. But he did that thing with his eyebrows again. It seemed like he didn’t believe me. I never had been good at lying to my husband. Or reading him.
"It works for other things too, I guess. There's some mold in the master shower grout. Or is it in the caulk? I never remember which goes where. Either way, I might spritz some in there later to get rid of the discoloration and kill all that bacteria. Good idea, don't you think?"
He tried to say something through his gag, but then stopped.
I started to hum again as I finished cleaning, humming louder whenever I had to ring out the sponge.
When his mess was finally cleaned up, I tossed the contaminated sponge into the bucket. "Let me go get that surprise," I said. "But first, close your eyes."
He just stared at me.
"Eyes closed. Don't make me blindfold you too."
This time he shut his eyes.
Good boy. I took the bucket back upstairs and dumped the soapy water out the back door and into the grass. Then I tossed the sponge in the trash and removed my rubber gloves with a snap and tossed them in the laundry room sink.
The reindeer took a little longer to assemble than I thought. But when I finally had it ready, I yelled down the stairs to make sure he still had his eyes closed.
I carried it down gracefully. No accidental slips or pushes. I plugged it in and the white lights lit up all over the reindeer's body and his nose shone red. I smiled. Happy captive, happy wife. Was that how that old saying went? "You can open your eyes," I said.
He looked from the reindeer to me and then back again.
I was expecting a smile or a thank you. But I needed to help him do that. I untied his gag and let it fall to his neck.
No words fell from his mouth though.
"Don't you like it?" I asked. "He glows." I pointed to his surprise.
"Why exactly did you get this for me?"
"I thought you'd be more likely to give me answers if you were happy." I sat down in the chair across from him.
"And you thought a glowing reindeer would make me happy?"
"A glowing Rudolph. Yes."
"Ah. Of course."
I leaned forward, placing my elbows on my knees.
His eyes drifted to my breasts and I sat back up straight and cleared my throat.
"So you're happy?" I asked.
"You have me tied up in your basement. You made me pee in a bucket and then tased me while I was zipping my pants. And my whole body hurts, so I'm pretty sure you hit me with a baseball bat or something in order to get me down here in the first place."
"I drugged you actually. And then you fell down the stairs. It was an accident."
"Was it? Or did you push me?"
"What?" I put my hand on my chest. "Why on earth would I push you down the stairs?" Say it. Tell me why you deserved it.
"Why on earth would you kidnap me in the first place?" His chair jumped forward slightly as he struggled against his restraints. "You're fucking crazy!"
I sighed. I thought we were getting along so well earlier. And the Rudolph was a peace offering. What had gone wrong?
The doorbell rang and we both looked up at the ceiling.
Shit. Who the hell was at my door? My heart started racing as I stood up. Had Manager Jerry already informed on me? Was Detective Torres just checking in? Was it stupid nosy Sally? Fingers crossed it was the mailman. I ran for the stairs.
"Help!"
My head snapped back toward him.
"Someone help me!"
"Stop it," I said. "Be quiet."
"I've been kidnapped!" he yelled.
"Stop it right now," I said more firmly.
"I'm being held against my will by a psychopath!" he screamed.
I’m not a psychopath. I stared at my prisoner.
He stared back at me.
The doorbell was accompanied by a loud knock this time.
"I'm not a psychopath," I said. "Words hurt."
"You know what else hurts? Having coarse rope tied around your wrists!"
For goodness sakes. "Only because you keep moving," I said. I grabbed the fabric around his neck. It took me longer than usual with his head squirming around, but I successfully gagged him. I grabbed his chin, turning his face to me. "We'll continue this discussion later."
His nostrils flared.
"Be quiet or I'll...hurt you. I mean it." I dropped his chin when there were more knocks in rapid succession.